Steering Committee
Our apostolic planning process is being designed and guided by an 11-member Steering Committee. A diverse group of Jesuits and lay partners, the Steering Committee is helping to shape this critically important work.
Jack Bentz, SJ
Blessed Sacrament Parish,
Hollywood, CA
Fr. Jack Bentz, SJ, is the pastor of Blessed Sacrament Parish in Hollywood, California. He grew up on a cattle ranch in Oregon and attended Gonzaga University, graduating with degrees in theater and English literature. He then studied acting and worked as a theater artist in New York and Seattle for 10 years before entering the Society of Jesus.
Jack has served in campus ministry at Seattle University and Gonzaga; as the director of vocations for the former Oregon Province Jesuits; as the founding artistic director of a bilingual theater company called Deus X Machina; and as director of Bronco Catholic, the Catholic student center at Boise State University.
Prior to being assigned to Blessed Sacrament, Jack served four years with the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States, leading the implementation of a newly revised training program for Jesuit seminarians in the Bronx, New York.
Erick Berrelleza, SJ
Santa Clara University,
Santa Clara, CA
Fr. Erick Berrelleza, SJ, is founding dean of Messina College at Boston College (BC). Part of the university’s $100 million Pine Manor Institute for Student Success initiative to enhance educational opportunity for underrepresented, first-generation students, Messina College will offer an associate degree program beginning in the 2024-2025 academic year. The residential college will enroll 200 students and be located at Boston College’s new Brookline Campus.
A Los Angeles native, Erick received a bachelor’s in philosophy from Loyola Marymount University, a Master of Divinity degree in theology and ministry from Boston College, and a Ph.D. in sociology from Boston University. From 2019-2021, he served as a visiting scholar in BC’s Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life. He has also served as a member of the boards of trustees of Boston College, Santa Clara University, Brophy College Preparatory School in Phoenix, and Bellarmine College Preparatory in San Jose.
Erin Brigham
University of San Francisco,
San Francisco, CA
Erin Brigham, Ph.D., is the executive director of The Joan and Ralph Lane Center for Catholic Social Thought and the Ignatian Tradition at the University of San Francisco (USF). She has taught Catholic theology and social thought at USF since 2008. She is also the chief mission officer and chair of the University Council for Jesuit Mission at the university.
Erin earned her Ph.D. in systematic and philosophical theology from the Graduate Theological Union in 2010. The focus of her doctoral work was on contemporary Catholic ecclesiology in conversation with critical theory and feminist theology. Her current research and teaching focuses on the social teaching and theology of Pope Francis, the sanctuary movement, and the intersections of race, gender, and poverty in Catholic social thought.
Erin’s most recent books include “Church as Field Hospital: Toward an Ecclesiology of Sanctuary” and “Women Engaging the Catholic Social Tradition: Solidarity Toward the Common Good,” co-edited with Mary Johnson.
Bill Muller, SJ
Brophy College Preparatory,
Phoenix, AZ
Fr. Bill Muller, SJ, is the vice president for mission and identity at Brophy College Preparatory in Phoenix.
Bill graduated from Bellarmine College Preparatory in San Jose, California, before entering the Jesuit novitiate. He has a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Gonzaga University and a Master of Divinity degree from the Jesuit School of Theology.
He has served in many roles in secondary education, including as executive director of the Jesuit Schools Network in Washington D.C.; as president at Bellarmine College Preparatory in San Jose and Verbum Dei High School in Los Angeles; and as teacher, rector and principal at Loyola High School of Los Angeles. At the province level, Bill has served as Provincial Assistant for Formation and Provincial Assistant for Secondary and Pre-Secondary Education.
Bill is currently a member of the board of trustees at Brophy College Preparatory and St. Ignatius College Preparatory in San Francisco and a member of the board of members of Northwest Jesuit Schools in Portland, Oregon.
Bryan Pham, SJ
Supervising Attorney, Indian Law/General Public Practice Clinic
Gonzaga University,
Spokane, WA
Fr. Bryan Pham, SJ, is an assistant professor of law at Gonzaga University’s School of Law, where he also teaches legal methods and jurisprudence and serves as the school’s chaplain, the interim coordinating attorney for Gonzaga Law School’s Clinical Legal Programs and the supervising attorney for the General Public Practice & Indian Law Clinic. Bryan is also an adjunct professor in the Religious Studies Department at Gonzaga University.
Ordained in 2004, Bryan did his undergraduate studies at Gonzaga University. He received a bachelor’s degree in sacred theology and a Master of Divinity degree from Regis College at the University of Toronto. He received his law degree from Seattle University School of Law, a Licentiate in Canon Law from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, a Doctorate in Canon Law from Université Saint Paul and a Ph.D. from the University of Ottawa.
An active member of the Washington State Bar Association and the Canon Law Society of America, Bryan serves on the board of trustees of Gonzaga University and the board of directors of Gonzaga Preparatory School. Since 2011, Bryan has served on the faculty of St. Joseph Jesuit Scholasticate in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, where he teaches graduate courses in canon law. Additionally, Bryan is the chaplain for the Gonzaga men’s and women’s basketball teams. You can frequently see him sitting on the bench cheering and praying for the Zags!
Tracey Primrose
Jesuits West Province,
Washington, DC
Since 2018, Tracey Primrose has served as the provincial assistant for communications for the Jesuits West Province. She is responsible for spearheading communications for the Society of Jesus in 10 western states of the U.S.
Prior to joining Jesuits West, Tracey served for six years as the secretary for communications for the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the Jesuit Conference promotes common goals and oversees international projects for the Society of Jesus in Canada and the United States.
A veteran communications and media relations professional, Tracey was a partner in CP Communications, where she counseled a diverse array of clients — from large corporations and technology start-ups to nonprofits and cultural organizations. She served for many years in the Washington, D.C. office of Edelman Public Relations Worldwide and with the National Trust for Historic Preservation and started her career at C-SPAN. She later served as an assignment editor/correspondent for Nation’s Business Today, a syndicated business newscast. A graduate of Georgetown University, Tracey is the proud mother of four Jesuit-educated sons.
Ryan Rallanka, SJ
Seattle Preparatory School,
Seattle, WA
Fr. Ryan Rallanka, SJ, is a theology teacher, retreat leader and music minister at Seattle Preparatory School, where he is also a member of the board of trustees and the board of members.
An alumnus of Jesuit High School in Sacramento, Ryan earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology and English from Seattle University, a master’s degree in philosophical resources from Fordham University, and a Master of Divinity degree from the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University. While he was an undergrad, he sang in the chapel choir, led retreats and was vice president of Habitat for Humanity at Seattle University.
Ryan previously taught theology at Jesuit High School in Portland, Oregon, and was a catechist at St. Martin of Tours in the Bronx, New York. He also served as a deacon and liturgical musician at San Quentin State Prison in California during his Jesuit formation.
Cindy Reopelle
Gonzaga Preparatory School
Spokane, WA
Cindy Reopelle is currently the principal at Gonzaga Preparatory School in Spokane, Washington.
She previously spent eight years as the Provincial Assistant for Secondary and Middle Education and the Assistant for Jesuit and Lay Partnership in the former Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus.
Cindy spent the first 24 years of her career in Jesuit education at Gonzaga Preparatory School as a theology teacher, campus minister, admissions director and academic vice principal. She is a graduate of two Jesuit institutions, Bellarmine Preparatory School and Gonzaga University. She was on the founding board of SEEL (Spiritual Exercises in Everyday Life) Spokane and currently participates in the program as a spiritual director and board member.
David Romero, SJ
Christus Ministries,
Los Angeles, CA
Fr. David Romero, SJ, is a Jesuit priest currently serving at Christus Ministries, which empowers young adults, young families and parishes to grow spiritually, to change lives and to transform communities.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, David is a graduate of Loyola Marymount University, where he met the Jesuits and became involved with the campus ministry office and the Center for Service and Action. These opportunities to live a life of faith and justice led him to study abroad as a junior in El Salvador, which deepened his discernment to enter the Jesuits after graduating with a bachelor’s degree in theological studies.
During his Jesuit formation, David studied philosophy at Fordham University in New York, then worked for Casa Bayanihan, the study abroad program that was under the partnership of Ateneo de Manila and the University of San Francisco, and as a religion teacher at Bellarmine College Preparatory in San Jose, California. He completed his Master of Divinity degree at the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry and was ordained a priest during the summer of 2020.
Will Rutt
Intercommunity Peace & Justice Center
Seattle, WA
Will Rutt is the executive director of the Intercommunity Peace and Justice Center (IPJC) in Seattle and formerly served as the director of Justice Formation & Advocacy and teacher at Brophy College Preparatory in Phoenix. He holds undergraduate degrees in economics and theology from Creighton University and a master’s degree in educational leadership from the University of San Francisco.
Since college Will has been an ally of the undocumented community, when he first worked as a student organizer helping resist SB 1070 in Arizona. Will began working closely with a local community partner Aliento during his time at Brophy, as partners in supporting the student-led DreamOn campaign, an undocumented-led, narrative-based campaign that leveraged Catholic identity to create change for those who are undocumented in the United States. The DreamOn campaign has been some of the most life-giving work that he has done, especially witnessing the impact that the campaign has had on the undocumented student experience at Brophy.
Now at IPJC, Will continues his work through education, advocacy and community organizing. He also serves as an advisory board member for the Jesuit Restorative Justice Initiative Northwest. When Will isn’t working, he can be found spending time with his partner Elizabeth, their daughter Olivia, and pup Autumn, always trying to get outside in the mountains.
Bob Ryan
Brophy College Preparatory,
Phoenix, AZ
Bob Ryan has served in leadership positions at Brophy College Preparatory in Phoenix for nearly two decades. For the last 16 years, he has served as Brophy’s principal but will assume the role of president in July of 2023.
During his tenure at Brophy, Bob has taught math and theology, served as a department chair, and directed service and advocacy programming. In 2011, he was part of the team that launched Loyola Academy, an on-campus, tuition-free college preparatory program for boys entering sixth grade who demonstrate substantial academic promise as well as verified financial need.
After earning a bachelor’s degree from the University of Notre Dame, he spent two years volunteering with Andre House of Arizona, a large service provider that ministers to people experiencing homelessness in Phoenix. He later earned a master’s degree in education from Arizona State in curriculum and instruction and a master’s degree in Catholic school leadership from the University of San Francisco. He serves on several local boards as well as the board of directors of the Jesuit Schools Network.